Grant Thornton has published a 40-page briefing document outlining the latest changes to International Financial Reporting Standards.

The paper, Navigating the changes to International Financial Reporting Standards: a briefing for Chief Financial Officers, has been prepared by the Grant Thornton International Ltd IFRS Team and is available to all CFOs.

Richard Ratcliffe, a partner at Grant Thornton Isle of Man, said it is an invaluable tool for anyone involved in international business.

He explained: ‘The publication is designed to give Chief Financial Officers a high-level awareness of recent changes that will affect companies’ future financial reporting. It covers both new Standards and Interpretations that have been issued and amendments made to existing ones, giving brief descriptions of each.

‘It has been full updated to include changes to International Financial Reporting Standards published between 1 December 2012 and 30 November 2013 and now covers 31 March 2013, 30 June 2013, 30 September 2013, 31 December 2013 and 31 March 2014 financial year-ends.’

He added: ‘It is simple to use and is designed to help entities planning for a specific financial reporting year end identify changes mandatorily effective for the first time, changes not yet effective and changes already in effect. It is important to note that where a change is not yet mandatorily effective for a particular year end, it may still be possible for an entity to adopt it early, depending on local legislation and the requirements of the particular change in concern.

‘The table of contents lists all the changes covered in the publication, their effective dates, and the page in the publication on which the appropriate summary can be found.

‘For each change covered in the publication, we have included a box on its commercial implications. These sections focus on the questions how many entities will be affected and what will be the impact on affected entities?’

Navigating the changes to International Financial Reporting Standards: a briefing for Chief Financial Officers is available electronically or in hard copy. For more information contact Richard Ratcliffe by emailing richard.ratcliffe@im.gt.com or calling 639494.